Neomodernism is the architectural movement that from roughly the 1990s onwards returned to the principles of pre-war modernism. After a period in which postmodernism reinstated ornament, colour and historical quotation, attention shifted back to the clean, unfussy form and to the idea that a building should show how it is put together.
Characteristics
- Clean geometric volumes — rectangular masses, little articulation, sharp corners
- Flat roofs and horizontal window bands, taken directly from rationalism, functionalism, the Bauhaus and De Stijl
- Exposed structure — columns, beams and connections shown rather than concealed
- Materials on view: glass, steel, concrete, timber, aluminium, usually in their own colour
- Large areas of glazing and transparency between inside and out
- Almost no ornament; the effect comes from proportion, rhythm and material
The movement established itself above all in office and commercial work. Briefs there are larger and aesthetic constraints looser than in housing, where local policy and market taste more often push towards a traditional facade.
Criticism
Neomodernism attracts the criticism that met the original modern movement: buildings that convince individually can read as cold and anonymous as a group. The movement also gave rise to supermodernism, in which standing out and being unmistakable become the primary aim.
Points to watch in execution
- Details have to be right. With exposed work there is no moulding to hide a discrepancy in; setting out and tolerances decide the result
- Large glazed areas need shading. Without external shading or solar control glass, overheating is close to inevitable
- Thermal bridging. Slabs continuing through to the outside, cantilevered balconies and exposed steel columns are difficult thermally; design in structural thermal breaks
- Flat roofs demand attention to falls, overflow outlets and durable upstands at every junction
Related terms
- Modernism
- Functionalism
- Bauhaus
- Expressionism in architecture
- Gothic Revival
- New Urbanism
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